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First responders adopt new initiative aimed at improving wildfire response

Dry conditions across Colorado are increasing wildfire risks. Denver7's Tyler Melito spoke with officials to learn more about Wildfire Initiated Community Conflagration
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South Metro Fire Rescue
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DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. - The threat of wildfires is high across Colorado.

In an effort to keep people safe, agencies across the state are taking part in a new initiative providing workshops for first responders and working to create consistency in best practices for responding to wildfires.

It's called Wildfire Initiated Community Conflagration. The goal of the initiative is simple: keep communities safe from the unpredictability of wildfires.

▶️ WATCH: Denver7's Tyler Melito spoke with officials to learn more about Wildfire Initiated Community Conflagration

First responders adopt new initiative aimed at improving wildfire response

"[Wildfires are] the No. 1 thing we consider on where people are moving to staff trucks to make sure we have the coverage," Larkspur Fire Lt. Rusty Booth said.

More than 100 agencies across the state have already taken part in WICC workshops.

Mike Chard, Director of Emergency Management for Boulder County, is helping spearhead the effort.

"The first workshop was around risk profile, what causes these wildfire configurations," Chard said. "The next one was alert warning, evacuations. Then followed up with effective fire response, and then the last one was command and control. How do we manage these large scale incidents?"

Also playing a big part in WICC is Douglas County Emergency Management Director Mike Anderson.

Anderson says WICC will allow first responders to better respond to fast fires, such as the Marshall Fire.

"These are wildfires that rapidly transition from the wildlands into our communities, in the built environments," Anderson said. "They're extremely dangerous because of how fast they move and how much they change between a wildland fire and a urban conflagration."

Both Chard and Anderson agree WICC won't be possible without continued buy in from agencies across the front range.

"When we have these events, it's not just done with one fire department or one city or one county, it takes a regional response," Chard said.

They also said constant communication is key, both with the public and with each other.

"We're consistently talking the same way, with the same language, the same conceptual understanding of it, so that then community members, and not just them, but policymakers, can understand what actions can be taken to help address it," Chard said.

"These kind of disasters require partnerships and teamwork without question," Anderson added.

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But at the end of the day, the key for these wildfires to not get out of hand, are the brave people running toward danger.

"We want to be a mutual aid asset, and we want to make sure we're doing everything as much as we want for people to come into our district and do the same thing," Booth said.

Booth adds they are doing everything they can at Larkspur Fire to get firefighters up to speed on WICC, knowing the impacts could be immense.

"We just started some new training where we're getting people out and they're actually doing field trainings on some properties here in the county, so that's played a huge part," Booth explained.

Anderson, Booth and Chard all say it is also vital for residents to sign up for their community's alert system.


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